Blood Deral
by Alexandra3
Summary: kotor.LSF. A Halloween challenge. An icy breeze blew through the room, freezing the blood in Revan’s veins. She knew it was a warning from those that watched her. . .


Revan awoke abruptly.

She did not jolt upright or shoot up gasping. She made no movement at all except for her eyes flying open. It was what happened when her instincts kicked in before her brain did. And even though she could not sense any actual danger, she could still tell that something was _wrong._ It was enough to throw her out of her peaceful sleep.

Her eyes darted around the room, taking in every object and shadow that she could see. There was nothing out of place. Slowly, she raised her head and then propped herself up on her elbow, taking in the entire room. She could still see nothing wrong. It was absolutely silent, except for the steady breathing of the man lying next to her.

Revan's lips quirked into a brief smile as she looked down at Carth. Despite the fact that his soldier training granted him the ability to be wide awake and cognizant at a moment's notice, he could still sleep like the dead if given the chance. Though, to be fair, the Republic had been working him rather hard lately. Just about as hard as the Jedi Council was working her. It felt like they hardly saw each other anymore with all of their duties.

Revan pushed her musings away for the moment and decided to go investigate. Carefully easing out of Carth's arms, she shifted to the edge of the bed. She glanced at her lightsabers, resting on the night stand, never far from where she was. She closed her eyes and reached out with the Force consciously, searching the entire apartment. There was simply no one there–yet she could still not shake the feeling that something was out of place. Unable to forgo the a habit, she took only one of the two weapons.

The floor felt like ice to her bare feet as she slowly padded out of the bedroom. She shivered in the light shift she wore, thinking it was unnaturally chilly. It certainly hadn't been that cold when they went to bed. Goose bumps prickled along her arms as she thoroughly checked each room she passed. She couldn't find anything.

Revan came to the living room and paused, frowning. The chill seemed to be concentrated there. Her frown deepened as she saw one of the side lamps flicker a mournful blue, a color that the lamp was not equipped to project. She cautiously walked over to it, eyes darting around her as she went. The second her fingertips touched the base, the light went out completely, leaving the room dimly lit from the outside lights of Coruscant.

Revan felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. A draft rushed through the apartment, chilling more than her skin. Tales of horror stories came back to her and she felt the childish fears assail her. She closed her eyes once again and took a moment to calm herself–there was no reason to be scared. No one could get into their rooms and no one had. Carth was only down the hall and there was nothing wrong. She reached out to the Force to reassure herself and took a deep breath when she could feel no presences around her and no warning in its message.

_You would not be able to sense us._

The gravelly voice cut through the silence of her mind, its dark tone menacing. Revan jumped and spun around, her lightsaber activated and held defensively before her. Her eyes widened at what she faced, her heart beating furiously. Before her, the living room was crowded with ghostly shapes, indistinct around the edges. Men and women of all different heights and builds stood in front of her, heedless of the furniture or even the walls. There were even a few small children on the edges, watching her with dead eyes. They all shimmered with a ghastly green light, a hazy existence. They crowded together, their forms heedlessly merging with one another and stared at her blankly.

Revan brandished her lightsaber in front of her, the purple glow bringing her only the smallest of comforts. She strained with the Force to detect anything. . .but as far as the Force was concerned, there was no one in front of her. "What-what are you?" Revan was dismayed to hear her voice shake. She forced herself to get a grip and calm down; children's ghost stories couldn't harm her.

_We are the remains of those you slaughtered_ spoke the same voice. None of the ghosts had opened their mouths or changed their expressions. Yet she heard the voice in her mind as clearly as if someone had spoken to her. It was deep and sent chills up her spine. _We come to remind you of what you have done and dissuade you from what you may do._

Revan didn't like the implications and struggled to figure out what they were talking about. With a sick realization she knew who these people were–they were those that the Dark Lord had killed in her ravaging of worlds. Swiftly her greatest fear came to the forefront: being directly faced with the horrible deeds of her unremembered past. Though she frequently had dreams and her memories were slowly returning to her, she had yet to fully be confronted with the consequences of her past. She didn't know how she was supposed to deal with this–and the thought of being helpless scared her just as much.

Revan grit her teeth and held her ground as the shadowy mass seemed to come closer. "I am not she. You are wrong, that Revan is dead."

_Revan lives in you, though you deny it. You have felt her stir._ Revan's eyes widened further than they already were. How could these beings know any of this? It was true that in some of her darker moments she could feel the black impulses of the dark side swell up, but she always fought them and remained firmly in the path of the light. No one knew of her struggle with the Dark Lord every day. . .not even Carth.

The ghosts took advantage of her distraction and took a step towards her. Revan's frayed nerves got the better of her. She swung her lightsaber at the nearest ghost. . .only to watch it go straight through his form. She tried again, but the blade was useless. The steel cylinder dropped from her numb fingers. She could not fight this, and that scared her most of all.

_You cannot harm us. We come for the sake of those still living, of those not yet slain by your blade._ The mass of transparent faces came closer and Revan found herself backing up, her unnatural fear taking hold of her.

"No, I am not she! I am of the light, I do not remember the atrocities committed by the Dark Lord. I am _not_ that Revan!"

_She still lives within you, the dark warring with the light._ The voice's intonation had not changed or shifted its inflection. It was monotone yet one of the most frightening things she had come against.

"What do you want?" she asked, taking another step backwards. She was running quickly out of room, coming close to the wall.

_We come to remind you and dissuade you. We come to demand that you choose._

"Choose what?" Another step back.

Revan blinked and her eyes widened once again. Appearing in the hands of every ghost was a flower that was a sickening color of red–a blood deral. She recognized the flower easily as one of the most intriguing plants in the Republic. It was unable to grow anywhere besides its native world of Deralia, her home world. The seeds in the center were bright yellow and stood proudly upwards. Yet the petals hung downwards, in the shape of drops of blood. The blood deral was aptly named.

_We ask you to choose what you will be a part of: the death or the cure?_

The flowers dropped from their hands to litter the floor of the apartment. It looked as if a slaughter had taken place, given the color of the petals. They stayed where they had fallen, undisturbed as the ghosts passed over them.

Revan took another step backwards, her eyes wide and unsure. She couldn't fight against these _people_ and she couldn't reason with them. . .she didn't know what to do. "I don't know what you're trying to tell me."

There was a short silence in which the ghosts hovered, silent. Then a deep rumble built up into the loud cry of one word _Choose!_ As a solid mass, the ghosts leapt towards her.

Revan couldn't help herself. She gave a small shriek and tried to take another step back, but her feet lost their traction in the mass of blood derals. She pitched backwards and her head connected with the wall as she fell. Stars blossomed in her vision as she crumpled to the floor. She remained painfully conscious as she felt the ghosts' cry echoed through her mind. She sluggishly brought her arms up to cover her head, which throbbed.

It was several long minutes before she managed to calm her frantic heartbeat and still her gasping breaths. It was several more minutes before she managed to gather the courage to open her eyes and lower her arms.

The ghosts were gone. Nothing had been touched or moved, there was hardly any evidence at all that anything supernatural had just happened. Everything was back to normal. . except for the mass of blood derals scattered on the floor.

Revan–who was still curled up in a fetal position–reached a shaking hand out to pick up one of the flowers. She examined the flower carefully, wondering what the ghosts had meant. She thought of all that she knew about the unusual plant. The petals were poisonous if ingested. Yet, if the seeds were ground up into a powder and mixed with water, it became the antidote to the specific poison, as well as several others. The blood deral was an anomaly among science.

Revan twirled the flower between her fingers, watching the petals extend. She knew what the ghosts had been trying to tell her now. They were using the flower as an example. Inside of her, she held two personalities: that of the Dark Lord Revan and the humble Jedi Knight Revan. The flower was at a state of equilibrium. . .it was beautiful in its deadliness, yet it was harmless unless someone intentionally sought out the poison. She was like that–harmless unless someone tried to bring out the evil within her.

_You must choose which will prevail._

Revan started and looked up again, afraid of what she would see. Before her, a small ghostly child stood. Tears threatened at Revan's eyes as she saw just how young the child was–had she personally cut the child down in a moment of rage? Or had he died in a planet wide attack as so many had?

_Will you continue to be the antidote to the evil of the galaxy?_ The child cocked its head to the side as he asked the question. _Or will you allow the poison to consume you and be who you are?_

Revan swallowed convulsively. "I don't know anymore." Her mind was in such turmoil, she did not know what path called to her more strongly–that of Repentant Knight or Fearsome Sith Lord?

_You must choose, for the future of all beings rests with you. Will the galaxy kneel and tremble again? Or will it stand tall with strength?_ The child stared at her silently before disappearing in a swirl of a mist.

Revan clenched her eyes shut and curled in on herself once again, the blood deral crushed within her fist. What would she choose? She had clearly dedicated herself to the light, though that did not quell the murderous spirit in her subconscious. The entire matter was based on a battle of wills–nothing else.

An icy breeze blew through the room, freezing the blood in Revan's veins. She knew it was a warning from those that watched her. . .they waited for her to turn so that they might exact revenge–a revenge that she could not fathom. A Jedi was not supposed to give in to fear; but what else was one to do when powerless? The breeze turned into a full wind and Revan felt like crying in terror. Though still a little dizzy from hitting her head, she staggered to her feet and ran back down the hallway to the bedroom, leaving her lightsaber and the room of blood derals behind.

She stumbled into the room and nearly threw herself back onto the bed. She nestled as close to Carth as she could, soaking in both his warmth and protection. He grumbled something in his sleep and pulled her back into his arms. Revan briefly wondered how he had slept through everything, but then the thought that the ghosts had kept him unconscious flittered through her mind. She ruthlessly pushed it away and closed her eyes, forcing herself to stop shaking and wondering over the amount of power that they had.

All that the specters had said ran through her mind over and over. She knew that the dead eyes that looked at her would haunt her for ages to come. . .which was most likely the point. She could not sense them, could not tell if they were nearby, watching, waiting. She wished she could disappear completely and hide from the unseen malice that was undoubtedly nearby. It was these dark thoughts that plagued her for hours to come as she lay awake, frightfully watching the walls and any shadow that moved.

It seemed that she had only just fallen into a fitful sleep when Carth was shaking her awake. "Revan? Come on beautiful, time to get up."

Revan jolted awake, much more violently than she had last night. She looked around quickly, seeing only Carth watching her with concern. She sighed shakily and brought a hand to her forehead. The warmth of the sunlight falling on the bed calmed her. The night began to fade in her mind as she hopefully thought it might all have been an intense dream.

"Revan? What's wrong?"

She shook her head, briefly debating whether to tell Carth what had happened. She couldn't worry him like that, she didn't have to. And if it really was all a product of her imagination, then there was no reason to tell him. She forced a smile and leaned forward to kiss him. "Nothing. I just didn't sleep much last night, nothing to worry about."

He didn't look convinced. He seemed about to say something before his eyes focused on something past her and he frowned. "What in the world is that?"

Revan turned and all the color drained from her face. She scurried back across the bed till her back was pressed to Carth's chest. On the floor next to the bed was a mass of blood derals, arranged to form two empty eyes. The message was clear.

They were watching.

-I-I-I-

This was originally written for the Halloween challenge on kotorfanmedia. After an insightful review I was contemplating changing the ending, but I left it as it was. I hope you enjoyed it! Leave me a pretty little review and tell me what you think, praise and constructive criticism is welcome! Alexandra


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